Going grass roots to get the country word out

August 06, 2006|By Alison Bonaguro, Special to the Tribune

Because country often follows in the footsteps of rock, Music Row would be wise to copy what other labels are doing with Tremor (tremor.com), Procter & Gamble's effort (an expansion from its more traditional role of offering cleaning supplies, coffee and snacks) at marketing new music that uses a network of teenagers to promote products. Again, it's more word-of-mouth publicity. But this one gives people a chance to rate songs before they're released.

Tremor bills itself as a VIP community of teens who can make an impact. Once you join, you listen to unreleased music, rate it and feel good knowing you had a part in the decision-making process. It appears to have cracked the code on influencing word of mouth. Teens sign up so they can have influence and exclusive access to special events and insider info. What teen wouldn't want that? To date, Tremor has more than 250,000 active teens. And with so many country artists invading MySpace.com, it's obvious what an impact the Internet can have.

Peterson says "MySpace isn't relevant for spins, just for spreading the word." And if song plays are any indication, word is indeed spreading. A recent check found that Atkins' single had 201,097 plays; Miranda Lambert's debut single, "Kerosene," had 589,036; Jack Ingram's "Wherever You Are" had 117,074; and The Wreckers' "Leave the Pieces" had a staggering 1,145,413. Though song plays on MySpace.com don't always correlate with radio success, the numbers do suggest awareness is growing. And further, that artists need an arsenal off-line and online marketing tools.

But is all this word of mouth a waste of time? Jay Conrad Levinson, author of "Guerrilla Marketing," says no. He thinks country artists must do unexpected things to get attention. "Street teams help turn artists into cult brands, and the members become evangelists," Levinson said. "They do things that would normally be the job of a promotion staff."

Mike Schafer, vice president of brand development for Fifth Third Bank, knows that that approach is something brands rely on all the time. And artists are just like brands. "The recommendation of a trusted peer is almost always worth more than a recommendation of an expert or advertiser," said the marketing veteran. "That's what viral marketing is all about."

What these unconventional marketing tools cannot do, according to James, is build relationships. And that's the best way to get a song on the air, and get it played. "Here's what I did for developing artist Steve Holy. Holy and I got on a plane, and went to dinner with US99's program and music directors. I brought my iPod, put the buds in their ears, and got the song on the air," James said. "No street team can do that."

So the jury is still out on street teams. While these low-budget tactics may have quantitative limitations, they certainly can't hurt an artist. At the very least, they create a virtual bond between the artist and the fan. And when that happens, the artist can count on brand loyalty for life.